


I wake up in the light of the fire (eyes burning like the ashes)

by girlsarewolves



Series: treats [7]
Category: Nightbreed (1990)
Genre: Gen, Monsters, Post-Canon, Transformation, Treat, could be read as Lori/Rachel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-22 12:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21302429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves
Summary: In the days after Midian's destruction, Lori transforms.
Relationships: Aaron Boone/Lori Winston, Lori Winston & Rachel (Nightbreed)
Series: treats [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1434862
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2019





	I wake up in the light of the fire (eyes burning like the ashes)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scorpiod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiod/gifts).

* * *

Being a monster comes easy, perhaps, in part, because it isn’t monstrous at all. In the last few days of Lori’s human life, she saw the depths humans could sink to, and the heights monsters could reach, so it was without fear that she forced this gift upon herself. It is without fear that she is reborn, something else, something more.

Not to say there aren’t some learning curves that come with the territory. It’s a few days before they discover what exactly her new condition is, what it gives her, how it changes her. There’s trial and error, and a few embarrassing moments of laughter at her expense as she tries to force out her new features and special perks.

“Ignore them,” Rachel tells her, smooth and soft hands gently cupping her face. She keeps Lori focused on her, on almost delicate features and hypnotic eyes. There’s a mother’s patience in everything Rachel says and does, something that puts Lori at ease despite the quickness to teasing and jests from the others. “Focus on yourself. Close your eyes. Listen to your heartbeat. Feel your blood pulsing through your body. Lose your mind within yourself and let go, Lori.”

“Did Aaron - Cabal - have to go through this?”

From the shadows her lover smirks, his features human right now, deceptively harmless. He took a step back when Rachel offered to help Lori come into her own - his new life and new name still fresh to him, like wet blood dripping from a bite wound.

Rachel’s laugh is low and husky. Everything about her is a mix of soothing and sultry, comforting and enticing. “He fumbled through his changes on blind luck and circumstantial rage. You, however, we have a little more time with, and not so many unwanted visitors stomping around our grounds.”

Lori smiles at that, eyes flickering over to Boone - he will be Aaron Boone to her, for a long time if not for the rest of their lives, and she isn’t yet ready to think of him as Cabal. 

“Now. Focus on yourself.”

Lori closes her eyes and does as Rachel instructs. Listens to the steady rhythm of blood and the beat of her heart. Every hair on her body is standing on end, her nostrils flaring as she becomes increasingly more aware of the myriad of scents surrounding her. Her mouth waters as she becomes lost in the beat of other hearts, the steady rhythm of others’ blood filling her ears - or is it her own, is she just becoming so loud she echoes through the underground cavern they’ve made their temporary shelter?

Hunger pains blossom in her stomach. She smells blood and sweat and earth, humor and curiosity and arousal, and it all fills her with a craving the likes of which she’s never known.

“That’s it, Lori,” Boone whispers - he’s by her now, or at least it sounds like he is, voice brushing against her ear like a soft pant of air as he sleeps beside her. 

“Cabal is right, Lori. Focus. You are Nightbreed now. Let it out,” Rachel says. Her hands are still on Lori’s face, fingers stroking her cheeks. The sensation is strange and almost - muted. Like there’s something between Rachel’s skin and her skin. “Let yourself go,” she whispers.

The hunger, the scents, the mesmerizing rhythm of blood and heart, Rachel’s hands on her face, it all fades into the distance. Lori listens to Rachel’s instructions, Boone’s encouragement, and lets herself go. Vaguely, she is aware that her body is swaying to the beat of the hearts echoing through the cavern. All around her is earth, the smoke of torches and camp fires rising up, but somewhere in her mind, she is running, sprinting, chasing through the grass and the trees under the moonlight. Her body and soul are one, perfectly in sync, and she is free. She can taste the wind in the air, the scents it’s carrying.

On her tongue, in her teeth, she can imagine blood and flesh. Prey. Meat. The softness of an open belly - an animal, a human - and the thought brings back the memory of hunger instead of repulsion. This is what she is now.

A hunter. Nightbreed.

Pleasure rips a cry from her, a startled sound as her eyes open and she sees everything, everyone, so clearly even in the dim and dancing light of the flames. Power and grace fills her body, and when she looks down she isn’t surprised or horrified by the sight of dark fur hiding the paleness of skin. Her nails are long and sharp-tipped, her teeth much the same when she drags her tongue over them. 

Rachel’s eyes are alight with something akin to pride, and Boone looks at her in awe while the others watch - their mockery replaced with curiosity and excitement.

“There you are,” Rachel announces. Her hands on Lori’s face brings her in for a feather-light kiss, her lips to Lori’s. “Now you are Nightbreed.”

* * *


End file.
